Cementochronology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

We propose for the first time the use of the combination of two high-resolution techniques, dental wear (meso-and microwear) and dental cementum analyses, to gain a better understanding of Neanderthal subsistence strategies and occupational patterns. Dental wear analysis provides information not only on ungulate palaeodiet and palaeoenvironments but also on hunting time and seasons. Dental cementum analysis allows the accurate determination of the age and season at death of a prey. our study has focused on the cantabrian region and has applied both methods to investigate the Mousterian faunal assemblages in Covalejos Cave. Identification of the ungulate palaeodiet reveals information on the environmental conditions of the studied region. Moreover, it may facilitate observation on the evolution of both palaeodiet and palaeoenvironment throughout the site sequence. Results show a general stability in the palaeoenvironmental conditions and in the ungulate palaeodiet throughout the Mousterian sequence; this finding may be attributed to the role of the area as a climate refuge, and slight differences in levels 8, 7 and 4 suggest long-or short-term but repeated Neanderthal occupations at different seasons in the annual cycle. The hunter-gatherer groups that inhabited Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5-3) were subject to strong, rapid climatic changes 1,2 that altered their environment and consequently their subsistence resources. One of the most important issues that human groups needed to deal with is their organization and settlement selection. Among the factors and requirements that influence their choice and duration of settlements include the various subsistence strategies of these human groups, the stability of the environment, and the prevailing local conditions. That is, the availability of abiotic and biotic resources, such as raw material accessibility, prey distribution, feeding strategies, and seasonal movements 3-6. Neanderthal groups living in Europe at that time were characterized by high mobility throughout their territory and by a wide variety of settlement types, ranging from butchering sites or raw material-rich sites (short-term/seasonal occupations) 7-11 to base/residential camps (long-term occupations) 11-15. Therefore, the characteristics of various environments and the needs arising from group subsistence influenced the strategic planning of Neanderthal groups as regards their choice of settlement type and duration of settlement 4,6,16-20. Traditionally, mobility and settlement patterns were assessed using classical approaches, such as zooarchae-ological or lithic studies 21-27 , which are occasionally complemented by methods employed at different temporal scales 17,25,28-32. All these methods provide high-resolution data based on the study of specific animal skeletal parts. These data are linked to biological processes, such as dental eruption patterns 33,34 , degree of crown height